folks. jon: fox news alert. the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center is underway. we are live in dallas. we will soon hear from all five living u.s. presidents. the ceremonies, the speeches, plus in-depth analysis through the next two hours. a live report on it all moments from now. but first, right now brand-new stories and breaking. jenna: we have new details in the boston marathon bombings, how the explosions were triggered, as investigators apparently hit a snag in questioning the only surviving suspect. we'll have that report for you. plus new information on the president's healthcare law could members of congress who passed it vote to exempt themselves from it? there is dedate about that happening on capitol hill. we'll break it down for you. a woman crossing the street is hit by a car and thrown to the sidewalk. her condition, what about this hit-and-run driver?

all "happening now." back to texas now and our top story. we are glad you are with us, everybody. a really, truly special day here, i'm jenna lee. jon: history in the making. i'm jon scott. we are live in dallas where all of the living u.s. presidents have gathered at the same spot getting ready to honor former president george w. bush at the dedication of his presidential library. casey stegall live on the smu campus in dallas. what dignitaries are we going to hear from this morning and in what order, casey. >> reporter: good to be with you and glad you at home and america are here for this front-row seat with us. you know, this is history in the making. right now we are getting some of the welcomes and the chairperson much the george w. bush foundation just wrapped up. the first real big speaker that we'll hear from is come coming up at 19 after the hour, that is when the former secretary of

state condoleezzaa rice is going to take the stage. at the bottom of the hour is when former first lady laura bush will talk. a lot of people are excited to hear her addressing all of her family and friends who are in the audience today, about 12:42 eastern time is when former president jimmy carter is going to make his remarks. about 47 after the hour is when president george h.w. bush. bush 41 no doubt a very proud father on this day is going to address the crowd. that is really special that he is able to be here. as we know he has been in poor health and was hospitalized around thanksgiving. a 52 after the hour is when president clinton will get up and address this crowd, and then right before the top of the hour at noon eastern time is when president barack obama will take the stage, and then of course, everyone wants to know the man of the hour, george w. bush himself will take the stage at 12:13 eastern time. the 43rd president of the

united states. this audience is packed with head of state, dignitaries, members of his administration, a truly spectacular day to be witnessing here in person, jon. jon: i would not want to be the person who was tasked with the seating chart for this assemblage of distinguished personnel. so the museum and the library itself, what can visitors see? >> jon it is amazing. you know the library and the museum are just two of the components the george w. bush presidential center also houses the bush institute. the museum is what folks are going to be going through, it's 14,000 square feet, more than 43,000 artifacts are inside. it basically takes you through the eight years of the bush presidency in chronological order starting with of course the very contested election of 2000, from there you kind of turn the corner and you are hit with the events of september 11th. obviously that happened about eight months or so into his first term in office. there is a beam from the world

trade center tower that is standing in there. of course the megaphone that he used to address the first responders and the american people just a couple of days after 9/11. and then you transition into what became known as the global war on terror. it's a buzzword, we hear it used every day now, it's become part of our lexicon, back then it wasn't so much. of course it hits on the invasions of iraq and afghanistan, even the very gun saddam hussein had at the time of his capture is on display in there. it finishes out with of course hurricane katrina, a horrific natural disaster that happened toward the end of his presidency and the financial collapse. i mention all of the bad stuff, of course all of the good that he did in office is also featured in here. of course his work on education reform, no child left behind, all of his work for aids research and funding. so, you name it it hits on it in there, and before this is all said and done some 400,000 people will file through the

museum and library itself every single year. today all of the pomp and circumstance, it officially opens to the public on may 1st, jon. >> have as you're speaking the first lady and the four other surviving first ladies are being introduced to the crowd. a round of applause there for them. casey stegall there at the opening of the bush library and presidential center, we will have more of the live festivities just ahead. thanks, casey. jenna: you wonder how much small talk takes place within the groups. jon: wouldn't you love to hear it. jenna: a little fly on the wall to see what the conversation -gs are like. we are going to continue on with a few of our other top stories today. there are new concerns the boston terror investigation may have hit a major snag. here is the picture that is slowly coming together for us. officials were apparently questioning the surviving suspect at the hospital where he was being treated, and that interrogation came to a screeching halt when a judge arrived and read him his miranda

rights, rather suddenly. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge is live from washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. fox news is told that during law enforcement briefings on capitol hill lawmakers were told that the suspect's mother possibly knew as early as 2011 the same year the russians warned the cia and the fbi that tamerlan tsarnaev was a believer in radical eud lamb that he had sent text messages to his family suggesting that he was willing to die for islam. unnamed officials also tell fox news that the premature termination of the fbi's interrogation of the younger surviving brother may have national security eupl blah indications. the fbi official briefing law mcers said agents were only 16 hours into their questioning and were stunned to see the judge and attorneys show up, this timeline of events is backed up by a member of the house homeland security committee speaking to greta van susteren. >> that is a real issue. my understanding is the fbi did not inch vied the imagine straight. the tphaoeub was conducting its

interrogation, and the magistrate arrived, which i think is unusual. >> reporter: fox news was also told that valuable intelligence may have been lost as a result. under the national security exception you do have up to 48 hours to interview a suspect before reading them their miranda warnings, jenna. jenna: catherine what do we know about the communication between authorities in both countries at this point? that whraus a stor was a story we talked about yesterday. the cia was contacted by their russian counterparts in september of 2011 and presented with virtually the same information the fbi was given six months earlier. the russians believed tamerlan tsarnaev was a follower of radical islam and wanted to join an overseas terrorist group. the official who asked not to be identified added that the cia review, like the fbi's found no evidence of terrorist activity emphasizing that was the case two years ago. lawmakers briefed on the incident are not faulting the cia nor the fbi.

>> when the russians first sent the initial inquiry to look at this individual we contacted the russians on three different occasions to ask for more information and nothing was forthcoming. that's it as far as i was concerned. >> reporter: the new confirmation that the bombs most likely relied on remote controlled toy cars for the detonation mechanism. lawmakers say the new generation of tere requires is emerging. >> is it a situation where year are now facing more what europe has faced with an alien nation of part of the immigrant population. self-radicalization. that is a different challenge than those that are trained overseas, or receive material support from overseas and come here to attack us. and i think that will cause us to do some things differently. >> on the hailing of the older

brother fox news is told that at the cia's request his name, two possible dates of birth and a varying of the name proceed jivedded to them by the russians were entered into a government database of known and suspected terrorists. this is called the tide database it's over 500,000 people and this seems like the big marketplace where names are drawn from the terror watch list and the no-fly list. this was the first step to making either of those lists but not enough of a step to have prevented him from leaving the country in 2012. >> before we health you go can we ask you one more quick question going back to the first point you were making. we've been reviewing some of the reporting over of the last 24 hours some of which coming from megyn kelly as well about happened inside the hospital room. do we know who sent the judge, who sent the magistrate to read the miranda rights? why, or who sent them at that time? >> reporter: you've hit on the key question. the issue this morning is whether this was directed by the justice department here in washington or it was selfdirected by the u.s. attorney's office in boston.

but what is clear from the facts of our reporting is that this interrogation process was interrupted and i would add it was interrupted less than halfway through the public safety exception and i would add that in situations such as this based on my reporting on the underwear bombing in 2009 is when you have a suspect who has been either severely injured or heavily sedated that it's very slow going this these interrogations and often the interrogators have to go back several times to try to verify the information given the circumstances. jenna: a lot for us to consider there. catherine, thank you, we appreciate that very much. jon: that is very strange. all of a sudden in the middle of this interrogation the magistrate shows up with the miranda warnings. jenna: it's interesting to note that it could be a local call. you wonder who is in charge of the entire investigation and how some of those calls are made. jon: a case with national implications, and i don't know. somebody pulled the trigger on the judge, and the miranda warnings. we'll find out more i'm sure. we are also learning more about the bombs used in the boston

terror attack. investigators now know what materials were used and how they were detonated. molly line is live in boston. tell us, what are we learning about the bombs, molly? >> reporter: well, jon we are learning from a joint intelligence bulletin sent out to local state and federal investigators a little more forensic analysis, essentially that the bombs were not actually identical and that they relied as catherine herridge mentioned a few moments ago on remote controlled car parts. the bullying goes ton to say that each device likely incorporated an electric speed controller used as a switch mechanism and rechargeable battery pack to the power source. the type of explosive is listed as a blend containing nitrate and hoop objection axidizers. this was consistent with fireworks. we have confirmed that the older brother tamerlan bought fireworks in new hampshire in eastbound if. jon:

if the bombs are not the same what is the difference, are they telling it. >> reporter: it comes down to shrapnel. one of the bombs had be bbs and nails and the other bomb only had nails. that's why doctors at hospital seeing different patients were seeing different types of shrapnel. the answers those questions. right now the federal authorities have been in new bedford, massachusetts searching a landfill near to the ums dartmouth campus. that is where the the suspect dzhokhar tsarnaev attended schools. they could be looking for evidence as to purchases made in the days before the bombings, this is his trash or discarded belongings to the actual bombings. jon: that sound like a need el in a haystack. i guess if it's there they will find it. jenna: the jodi arias murder trial fascinating television viewers across the country.

you won't believe what some people will do to get a seat inside that courtroom. we'll tell you coming up. plus, speaking of long lines, a lot of long lines amount the airports these days. apparently they may be the least of our correspond reese. our next guest says furloughing air traffic controllers is like removing stoplights and stop signs from our roads. is our safety at work? senator jerry moran from kansas joins us next. ♪ [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie has all the deliciousness you desire. the brownie of your dreams is now deliciously real.

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actually have blown me away. join today and find out why over 1 million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. jenna: new information on a few crime stories we are keeping an eye on for you here and "happening now" . a warning for hikers near a west arstate forest. a man with a warrant for his arrest was last seen mountain area. larry james arnold is a registered sex offender wanted for bail jumping and contempt of court. he was convicted of sexual assault of a child back in 1995. a shirtless suspect leads police on a high-speed freeway chase through two california counties. authorities say he may have stolen the u mall that he drove

for half an hour before police caught up with him and took him into custody. so much interest surrounding the jodi arias murder trial in phoenix, one woman bought a trial regular seat nor $200. -- for $200. the court republican pre mannedded the two women, the one who bought it and the one filling it. jodi arias is accused of brutally mugger murdering her boyfriend back in 2008. jon: if you've tried to fly you've problem below seen this in the last week, swaoeud spread delays at airports across the country as the faa furloughs 15,000 air traffic controllers, at least for a time for each of them. the effect of the sequester cuts. it's not only a major inconvenience for the flying public, some lawmakers call it a serious safety risk. our next guest says it's like re0 moving traffic lights from our streets. senator jerry moran, a republican from kansas is the co-author of the protect our skies act. he is also a member of the senate appropriations committee, and i know, senator, you are not

happy with the way the f arks a has implement end the sequester cuts. >> absolutely not. and i'm not even certain that this is a result of sequestration, that's what the administration tries to claim, but there is no need nor this to happen. there is more money in the faa's budget this year than what the president requested in his budget. so in so many ways this seems like a manufactured problem designed to send a message to the american people that they better beat on the doors of their congress men and women and say we can't afford to reduce the increase in spending. so the faa doesn't need to be doing this. if they are truthful this their statements that they don't have the authority to avoid this. so many times congress has offered to provide that authority and they've declined to accept the discretion that we want to give them. we ought to be prioritizing. there is no business out there that would inconvenience their customers what they would do is try to find other ways to save these dollars, and the faa

should be no different. take care of the traveling public and don't put safety at risk for the point of making a political point. >> and case in point, you had that discussion with the head of the faa in a subcommittee hearing the other day. i want to play a bit of that exchange for our audience. >> okay. >> can't we prioritize? you pryo pryor tieded. you decided that this was more important for safety than this. why isn't spending money on control towers more important than unobligated balances. >> because the unobligated balances are in a different funding source which i am not permitted to transfer money from. >> i was giving you the authority to do that. >> but it's authority that i don't have. >> which you opposed me giving you the authority to do that. that doesn't make sense to me. i'm still baffled like this. jon: unobligated balances. basically the naa high school a big pool of money sitting there that they could -- well they claim they can't, but they can

use it for other things besides paying flight controlle' salaries. you offered to give them the option of dipping into that pool of money to spread some of the pain, they didn't want to do that? >> that is absolutely the truth. and there is two issues here. it started out as control towers being closed at 147 locations across the country, followed by furloughing of air traffic controllers. closing control towers some place, and in some of our busiest airports requiring that the controllers take a day off from work, which is what we've seen the consequences of over this last week. incidentally there's a few folks who are reporting to members of congress air traffic controllers who are telling us, we -- they insisted, the faa insisted that we all take the same day off as our furlough, implying that they want to make this as difficult as possible not spreading the furloughs out over a longer period of time. these unobligated balances are things like research money that

hasn't been spent, and my point has been all along, take the money out of the unspent research money, the unobligated balances, transfer that to something that is a higher priority, the safety and convenience of traveling americans. jon: here is how the "wall street journal" sees it in part, the sequester cuts about 637 million from the faa, which is less than 4% of its 15.92012 billion budgets and limits the agency to what it spent in 2010. the white house decided to translate this 4% cut that is it has the legal discretion to avoid into a 10% cut procedure air traffic controllers. though controllers will be furloughed for one of every ten working days, four of every ten flights won't arrive on time. that is washington math, senator. >> it makes absolutely no sense and it's the things that american hate about washington d.c. is why can't they just fix this problem? in my view the white house is trying to make a political

point. i've said from the very beginning, have a debate about sequestration, have a debate about the levels of spending a and how to pay for it but don't put the public at risk while we -- to use as a guinea pig. jon: senator jerry moran from kansas. thank you. [ alarm clock ringing ] [ female announcer ] if you have rheumatoid arthritis,

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jenna: fox news alert, breaker brach from our defense secretary chuck hagel now just announced that the united states and our intelligence services can confirm that there is some evidence of chemical weapons use in syria. there are still some questions about the chemical weapons, what type exactly, how much used, who exactly used it. there's been claims on either side in this conflict in syria about either side using chemical weapons. we also just received a briefing from senator mccain that said senator mccain received a letter

from the white house with the president also describing some use of chemical weapons in syria. this important. as we get more information about this news, is this the red line that has been crossed by the bashar al-assad regime that would elicit more response from us, the united states. that is the big question that overhangs these remarks. as we get more information we'll bring that to you. jon: fox news alert we'll take you now to the campus of southern methodist university in dallas, texas, where the u.s. army chorus is performing "america the beautiful" at the dedication of the george w. bush library. let's listen. ♪ [music playing]

♪ [singing. ♪ ♪ >> america, america, i shed his grace on thee. and crown guy good with motherhood from sea to shining sea. ♪ [music playing] ♪ oh beautifu

[singing] ♪ . ♪ .

♪. much. [applause] applause. >> ladies and gentlemen, president jimmy carter. [applause] >> this is it a great honor for me to be here today and remind me of my favorite cartoon in the "new yorker" magazine. this little boy is looking

up at his father and he says, daddy, when i grow up, i want to be a former president. [laughter] four of us already made that goal and one is still working on it but a wonderful thing to be with the other presidents and to have a chance to address this wonderful audience. i'll be very brief and i will be limiting my comments to the things i know personally that have been important for me and for george w. bush. in 2000, as some of you may remember there was a disputed election for several weeks and finally when president bush became president they had the inauguration in washington on schedule and i think my wife and i were only two volunteer democrats on the platform and george and laura afterwards came up and thanked us for coming. he said, if there is anything i could ever do for you let me know which was a mistake he made. as i said, mr. president,

the cornerstone has programs in 35 countries in the world and worst problem is war going on between north and south sudan and millions of people have been killed and i would like for you to help us have a peace agreement there. in a weak moment he said, i'll do it. and i said, when can i meet your secretary of state and your national security advisor? he said well, i haven't even chosen them yet, but give us three weeks. so three weeks later and i met with colin powell and condoleezza rice and president bush kept his promise. he appointed a distinguished senator from missouri, john danforth and the great general from kenya and on the in january of 2005 there was a peace treaty between north and south sudan that ended a war that had been going on for 21 years. george w. bush is responsible for that. [applause]

and that was the first of his great contributions to the countries in africa. as already been mentioned briefly here he increased the development assistance to africa from the time he went into office from when he left from $1.4 billion to more than $9 billion and that's an increase of 640%. that is development assistance. [applause] he established a pepfar program. there were 50,000 hiv sufferers in africa being treated when he came in office. when he left office, two million. i will let you figure the percentage on that. now at his new institute he has a program called pink ribbon, red ribbon to help save women from cervical and breast cancer in subsahara africa. that is near and dear to my heart and means a lot to millions of people in africa. mr. president, let me say i'm filled with admiration

for you and deep gratitude for you the great contributions you made to the most needy people on earth. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, president george h.w. bush. [applause] >> hold minute. [inaudible] >> thank y'all, very much. what a beautiful day in dallas. a great pleasure to be here. to honor our son, our oldest son and this is very special for barbara and me and thank you all for coming and for those who made this

marvelous museum possible, we thank you, especially and we're glad to be here. god bless america and thank you very much. [applause] >> good job. >> too long? [cheers and applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, president bill clinton.

[applause] >> thank you very much, president and mrs. bush, and, president and mrs. obama. president and mrs. carter. all the representatives here of the other previous presidents, ford, nixon, johnson families. i told president obama that this was the latest, grandest example of the eternal struggle of former presidents to rewrite history. and i want to take my hat off to president bush. this is a beautiful library. the exhibits are great. the work of the bush institute is inspiring.

and i congratulate him on the platinum leads rating for his library. this is the second building in the entire system that has that. and i want to say, mr. president, once again you got the better of me, twice in the last few weeks. my library has a platinum leeds rating but it was open for a few years before we could afford to achieve it. you have beaten me for being a grandfather and i congratulate you and laura for it [applause] i, you know, starting with my work with president george h.w. bush on the tsunami and the aftermath of katrina people began to joke that i was getting so close to the bush family i had become the black sheep son. [laughter] my mother told me not to

talk too long today and barbara, i will not let you down. [laughter] there is one other connection i have that i think is largely unknown which is that a couple of times a year in his second term george bush would call me just to talk politics and a chill went up and down my spine when laura said that all their records were digitized. [laughter] dear god, i hope there is no record of those conversations in this vast and beautiful building. i want to say as president carter did, i was impressed that president bush invites us to make different decisions if we choose on the decisions he was facing.

one of the most interesting things about this library. i want to talk about a couple of other things that are beyond controversy. the first i want to thank president bush for passing pepfar. no president of my party could have passed that through the congress and i worked all over africa with our health access initiative and aides, tuberculosis, malaria, building health systems. i have personally seen the faces of some of the millions of people who are alive today because of it. and -- [applause] i want to thank president obama for continuing it and increasing it. [applause] i want to thank you and laura for continuing your work in global health. i want to thank you for your efforts when president

reform our immigration system and keep america a nation of immigrants and i hope the congress will follow president obama's efforts to follow the example you set. and i thank you for that. [applause] and i want to thank you for the work we did together in the aftermath of haiti, the poorest country in our hemisphere. we have closed our fund. i believe in working yourself out of a job. but we helped a lot of people start businesses which are now thriving and we gave the country the first home mortgage system it ever had. so i thank you for that, mr. president. i -- [applause] i probably shouldn't say this but i'm going to anyway. your mother showed me some of your landscapes and animal paintings and i thought they were great. really great. and i seriously considered calling you and asking you

to do a portrait of me until i saw the results of your sister's hacked e-mails. those bathroom sketches are wonderful but, at my age i think i should keep my suit. i like president bush. we do a lot of speeches together and i like it when we have disagreements. he is disarmingly direct. we were having an argument over health care at one of these speeches i went on about the german health care system. he said i don't know a thing about the german health care system. i think he probably won the argument. [laughter] we are here to celebrate a country we all love, a service we all rendered and debate and difference is an important part of every free society. by asking us to join him in

the decisions he made and inviting us to make different ones if we choose, he has honored that deepest american tradition where all of these things, as an american citizen, i am very grateful. [applause] >> good job. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you so much. thank you. thank you. please be seated. mr. president and mrs. bush, president clinton and now former secretary clinton, to presidents george h.w. bush and mrs. bush, to president

and mrs. carter, to current and former world leaders, and all the distinguished guests here today, michelle and i are honored to be with you to mark this historic occasion. this is a texas-sized party and that's worthy of what we're here to do today, honor the life and legacy of the 43rd president of the united states, george w. bush. when all the living former presidents are together it's also a special day for our democracy. we've been called the world's most exclusive club and we do have a pretty nice clubhouse. but the truth is, our club's more like a support group. last time we all got together was just before i took office and, i needed that because as each of these leaders will tell you, no matter how much you may

think you're ready to assume the office of the president it is impossible to truly understand the nature of the job until it's yours, until you're sitting at that desk. that's why every president gain as greater appreciation for all of those who served before them, for the leaders from both parties who have taken on the momentous challenges and felt the enorm -- enormous weight of the nation on their shoulders and for me that very much extends to president bush. the first thing i found in that desk the day i took office was a letter from george and one that demonstrated his compassion and his generosity, for he knew that i would come to learn what he had learned, that being president above all is a humbling job. there are moments where you make mistakes. there are times where you wish you could turn back the

clock. and what i know is true about president bush and i hope my successor will say about me is that, we love this country and we do our best. now in the past president bush has said it's impossible to pass judgment on his presidency while he is still alive so maybe this is a little bit premature but for now there are things we know for certain. we know about the son who was raised by two strong loving parents in midland, famously inheriting as i said my daddy's eyes and my mother's mouth. the young boy who once came home after a trip it museum and proudly presented his horrified mother with a small dinosaur tailbone he had smuggled home in his pocket. i bet that went over great with barbara. we know about the young man who met the love of his life at a dinner party, ditching

his plans to go to bed early and instead talking with the brilliant and charming laura welch late into the night. we know about the father who raised two remarkable, caring, beautiful daughters, even after they tried to discourage him from running for president saying, dad, you're not as cool as you think you are. mr. president, i can relate. and now, we see president bush, the grandfather, just beginning to spoil his brand new granddaughter. so we know president bush the man, and what president clinton said is absolutely true. to know the man is to like the man because he is comfortable in his own skin. he knows who he is, he doesn't put on any pretenses, he takes his job seriously but doesn't take himself too seriously. he is a good man.

but we also know something about george bush the leader. as we walk through this library obviously we're reminded of the incredible strength and resolve that came through that bullhorn as he stood amid the rubble and ruins of ground zero, promising to deliver justice to those who had sought to destroy our way of life. we remember the compassion, that he showed by leading the global fight against hiv aids and malaria. helping to save millions of lives and reend mooing people in some of the poorest corners of the globe that america cares and that we're here to help. we remember his commitment to reaching across the aisle, unlikely allies like ted kennedy because he believed that we had to reform our schools in ways that help every child learn, not just some. we have to repair a broken

immigration system and that this progress is only possible when we do it together. now seven years ago president bush restarted an important conversation by speaking with the american people about our history as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. and even though comprehensive immigration reform has taken a little longer than any of us expected, i am hopeful that this year, with the help of speaker boehner and some of the senators and members about of congress who are here today, that we bring it home for our families and our economy and our security and for this incredible country that we love and if we do that, it will be in large part thanks to the hard work of president george w. bush. [applause] and finally, a president bears no greater decision and no more solemn burden

than serving as commander-in-chief of the greatest military that the world has ever known. as president bush himself has said, america must and will keep its word to the men and women who have given us so much. so even as we americans may at times disagree on matters of foreign policy, we share a profound respect and reference for the men and women of our military and their families and we are united in our determination and to comfort the families of the fallen and the to care for those who wear the uniform of the united states. [applause] on the flight back from russia, after negotiating with nikita crush chef at the height of the cold war president kennedy's secretary are i found a small piece of paper that the president had written a piece of paper. i know there is a god and i

see a storm coming. if he has a place for me, i believe i am ready. no one can be completely ready for this office but america needs leaders who are willing to face the storm head on even as they pray for god's strength and wisdom, they can do what they believe is right. that's what the leaders with whom i share this stage have all done, that's what president george w. bush chose to do. that's why i'm honored to be a part of today's celebration. mr. president, for your service, for your courage, for your sense of humor, most of all for your love of country, thank you very much. from all the citizens of the united states of america, god bless you and god bless these united states. [applause]

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[singing] ♪ . [singing] ♪ .

[applause] >> i believe one develop asset of principles through a faith, how you were raised and where you were raised. i had a set of presence pills that i had developed throughout my life and by the time i became president i was willing to defend those principles. i wanted to make sure that the economy was strong. we needed to bolster our

military in order to maintain the peace. it was important to promote a culture in which each individual is responsible for his or her decisions. we could improve our public school system so that people had a chance at the american dream. that free enterprise system needed to be defended and that we could achieve a more peaceful world through a strong america. i never wanted to be a war-time president but war came to our shores on 9/11. i had a lot of emotions. mostly i was determined. i was determined to protect america. any commander-in-chief ought to develop a special bond with the military and i certainly did so, because the toughest decision a president makes is to send men and women in harm's way. >> that thought of a multitude of issues that i was interested in and of course one of them is literacy. after september 11th many other options for issues confronted me and one of

them was women's rights. so when i made the presidential radio address talking about the brutal treatment of women and children by the taliban i started getting responses from women everywhere across our country. >> one of the guiding principles of my presidency was to whom much is given much is required and america is such a blessed nation. i believe we have an obligation to help human suffering where we possibly can. life is service till the end. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, president george w. bush. [cheers and applause] >> thank you all. please be seated.

oh happy days. i want to thank you all for coming. laura and i thrilled to have so many friends, i mean a lot of friend here to celebrate this special day. there was a time in my life when i wasn't likely to be found at a library, much less found one. beautiful building has my name above the door but it belongs to you. it honors the cause we serve and the country we shared. for eight years you gave me the honor of serving as your president and today i'm proud to dedicate this center to the american people. [applause] i am very grateful to president obama and michelle for making this trip. [applause]

unlike the other presidents here, he actually has got a job [laughing] mr. president, thank you for your kind words and for leading the nation we all love. [applause] i appreciate my fellow members of the former presidents club. 42, 41 and 39. i want it thank you all for your kind words and the example you have set. [applause] alexander hamilton once worried about ex-presidents wandering among the people like discontented ghosts. actually i think we seem pretty happy. one reason that we have wonderful first ladies at our side. [applause] hillary and rosa lynn thank you for your service and generosity. mother and lawyer, you know how i feel.

-- laura, you know how i feel. introduced the world leaders with whom i had the privilege to serve. you're good friends and honored to have you here in the promised land. i want to welcome members of congress. mr. speaker, appreciate you coming and the diplomatic corps. i know you will all be happy to hear this speech is a lot shorter than the state of the union. i thank the governors, governor of our own home state and other governors, mayors and state and local officials who have joined us. i welcome members of my cabinet, the white house staff and administration especially vice president dick cheney. [applause] from the day i asked dick to run with me served with loyalty, principle, and strength. proud to call you friend. [applause]

history's going to show that i've served with great people. a talented, dedicated intelligence team of men and women who love our nation as much as i do. i want to thank the people who have made this project a success. president gerald turner runs a fantastic university. [applause] a university with active trustees, dedicated faculty, and a student body that is awesome. [laughter] i want to thank david fario, allan lowe and the professionals at the national archives and records administration who have taken on a major task, and i am confident you all will handle it. i appreciate the architects, landscapers and designers,

especially bob stern, michael and dan murphy. i want to thank the folks of manhattan construction as well as all the work workers who built a fine facility that will stand the test of time. i thank the fantastic team at the george w. bush center, headed by jim glassman and my longtime pal, donny evans. much to the delight, much to the delight of the folks who worked on this project, we have raised enough money to pay our bills. [applause] we have over 300,000 contributors from all 50 states, and lawr and i thank you from the -- laura and i thank you from the bottom of our hearts. [applause] this is the first time in american history that parents

have seen their son's presidential library. mother, i promise to keep my area clean. [laughter] you know, barbara bush taught me to live life to the fullest, to laugh a lot and to speak my mind, a trait that sometimes got us both into trouble. dad taught me how to be a president, before that he showed me how to be a man, and, 41, it is awe and that you are here today. [applause] i welcome, i welcome my dear brothers and sister as well as in-laws, cousins, feoff yous -- nephews, nieces, all of you for joining us. our family has meant more to me than anything, and i thank you for making it so. not so long ago this campus was home to a beautiful west texan

named laura welch. when she earned her degree in library science, i'm not sure this day's exactly what she had in mind. [laughter] she's been a source of strength and support and inspiration ever since we met in to kneels' -- the o'neills' backyard in midland, texas. one of the joys of my presidency was watching laura serve as first lady. the american people rightly love her, and so do i. [applause] laura's going to be even better in her next role: grandmother. it was a joy -- i can't tell you what a joy it was to hold little mila, and i am really happy that mila's mother and father, jenna and henry, could make it here today. thank you all for coming. prison so -- [applause] so if you don't have anything to

do in the morning, tune into the "today" show. jenna's a correspondent, thereby continuing the warm relations the bush family has with the national press. [laughter] and i'm really proud of barbara who's with us for her incredible work to serve others and save lives. [applause] today marks a major milestone in a journey that began 20 years ago when i announced my campaign for governor of texas. some of you were there that day. i mean, a lot of you were there that day. i picture you looking a little younger. you probably picture me with a little less gray hair. in politics you learn who your real friends are, and our friends have stood with us every step of the way. and today's the day to give you a proper thanks. in democracy the purpose of

public office is not to fulfill personal ambition. elected officials must serve a cause greater than themselves. the political winds blow left and right, polls rise and fall, supporters come and go. but in the end, leaders are defined by the convictions they hold, and my deepest conviction, the guiding principle of the administration, is that the united states of america must drive to expand the reach of freedomment -- freedom. [applause] i believe that freedom is a gift from god and the hope of every human heart. freedom inspired our founders and preserved our union through civil war and secured the promise of civil rights. freedom sustains disdance bound

by change and voters who risk their lives to cast their ballots. freedom unleashes creativity, rewards innovation and replaces poverty with prosperity. and ultimately, freedom lights the path to peace. freedom brings responsibility. independence from the state does not mean isolation from each other. a free society thrives when neighbors help neighbors and the strong protect the weak and public policies promote private compassion. as president, i tried to act on these principles every day. it wasn't always easy, and it certainly wasn't always popular. one of the benefits of freedom is that people can disagree. of it's fair to say i created plenty of opportunities to exercise that right. [laughter] but when future generations come to this library and study this administration, they're going to

find out that we stayed true to our convictions. prison -- [applause] that we expanded freedom at home by expanding schools and lowering taxes for everybody. [applause] that we liberated nations from dictatorship and freed people from aids. and that when our freedom came under attack, we made the tough decisions required to keep the american people safe. [applause] the same principles define the mission of the presidential center. i'm retired from politics -- happily so, i might add -- but not from public service. we'll use our influence to help more children start life with a quality education, to help more americans find jobs and economic opportunity, help more countries overcome poverty and disease,

help more people in every part of the world live in freedom. we'll work to empower women around the world to transform their countries, stand behind the courageous men and women who have stepped forward to wear the uniform of the united states to defend our flag and our freedoms here at home. ultimately, the success of a nation depends on the character of its citizens. mr. president, i had the privilege to see that character up close. i saw it in the first responders who charged up the stairs into the flames to save people's lives from burning towers. i saw it in the virginia tech professor who barricaded his classroom door with his body until his students escaped to safety. i saw it in the people of new orleans who made homemade boats to rescue their neighbors from the floods. i saw it in the service members who laid down their lives to keep our country safe and to

make other nations free. franklin roose svelte once described the dedication of a library as an act of faith. i dedicate this library with unshock bl faith -- unshakable faith in the future of our country. it's the honor of a lifetime to lead a cup as brave and as noble -- a country as brave and as noble as the united states. whatever challenges come before us i will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead. god bless. [applause] [applause]

>> please stand for the national anthem, benediction and the retirement of colors. ♪ ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light -- ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. ♪ whose broad stripes and bright

stars through the perilous fight -- ♪ or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. ♪ be -- and the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air -- ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. ♪ o say does that star-spangled banner yet wave -- ♪ o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪

[applause] >> captain stanley w.fornier, united states navy, will deliver the benediction. >> may we pray together. gracious god, today we acknowledge you work in the affairs of humankind and nations. our prayer is that we as a people will listen carefully, respond appropriately and live each day acutely aware of the need for your guidance. you grace us with men and women who lead, prompted by the power of personal conviction to help

shape our national conscience and provide examples of extraordinary leadership. today we gather to celebrate a marvelous occasion, establishing in this physical place a living reflection on our national history. president bush and this presidential library -- in this presidential library established his legacy not only of stone and mortar, but of heart and soul and serve as reminders that they are words that resonate in our national con consciousness. words like justice, freedom, liberty, opportunity, sacrifice. ideals not merely of our own making, but of your creation as you implant in each of your children these intrinsic values. grant this day that the george w. bush presidential center will forever help inform our national

dialogue for good and will always remind us that our nation and world's best hope for an incurably optimistic future requires nothing less than our very best human efforts, yet ultimately rests in your providential care. we acknowledge that the spirit of freedom and opportunity we celebrate today is often in need of vigilant care, so we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and those who this very hour stand in harm's way. that you would assure them of your presence, our prayers and the anticipation of a lasting peace. now we give thanks for all those present today who have in the past provided faithful national stewardship and grant our leaders today -- especially president obama -- the gifts of wisdom, strength and the encouragement of your care. endow president bush, mrs. bush

and their entire family with your blessings and our eternal goodwill, and may you bless our nation and all of your creation. amen. [inaudible conversations] [applause] >> thanks for coming. awesome job. >> what an honor. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming today. this concludes our program. [applause] jon: and with a whole lot of pageant ri and a bit of emotion, the bush presidential center is officially open on the campus of smu in dallas, texas. a historic day as the current president and the four living ex-presidents all in attendance along with, i might mention, nine presidents and prime

ministers, former, from foreign nations including tony blair of britain and prime minister john major of australia. also there our very own fox news dignitary, our chief political correspondent, carl cameron, who's been watching all of this. carl? >> reporter: hi jon. tremendous pomp and circumstance, true history and great affection shared by the former presidents for george w. bush at the dedication of the bush presidential center. it has the library, museum and an institute as was mentioned tonight, in the afternoon. former president george w. bush quite eloquent in the closing sections of his remarks in which he said in the end leaders are defined by the conviction they hold, and my conviction is the usa must expand the reach of freedom. he joked, self-effacingly, said it wasn't always easy, wasn't always popular with some of the decisions he'd made, but when people get to come to this museum and exhibits, they'll get an opportunity to take a look at the choices george w. bush made during his eight years as the

president of the united states and make their own -- it's an interactive decision point activity wherein visitors can make their own choices as to whether or not to invade iraq or send federal troops to new orleans after hurricane katrina and much, much more. that was something that president bill clinton remarked he thought was a great innovation and one that celebrates democracy and choice and dissent and disagreement. and yet this country's ability to come together in the face of big challenges. president barack obama, the 44th president, also spoke today, also very appreciative speaking about his respect and add my case for the convictions george w. bush showed for his principles and goals while in office, and he talked about his first day in office himself, barack obama did, when he found a note left from his predecessor, george w.. listen. >> the first thing i found in that desk the day i took office was a letter from george and one that demonstrated his compassion and his generosity.

for he knew that i would come to learn what he had learned, that being president above all is a humbling job. there are moments where you make mistakes. there are times where you wish you could turn back the clock. and what i know is true about president bush and i hope my successor will say about me is that we love this country, and we do our best. >> reporter: there was a particularly poignant moment where bush 41, george h.w. bush, the current celebrant's father, in a wheelchair still recovering from a very serious bout of pneumonia earlier this year made brief remarks about his son and got a little bit choked up. that was preceded finish followed, rather, jimmy carter, president 39 who talked about some of the differences that he had with the president but celebrated his efforts if africa, particularly to combat

aids, a recurring theme here at the museum and one of president bush's real prowled moments in terms of diss -- proud moments in terms of foreign policy. and it's worth noting that president bill clinton who has developed a real relationship with the bush family over the years cracked wise on a number of occasions and at one point said he'd gotten so close to the bushes that people began to call him the black sheep of the bush family and said that he'd heard from his mother who said he shouldn't speak too long today, and then he said, barbara, i'll try to keep my remarks short today. legitimate, true affection shared between the former presidents, and now the library is dedicated, and you can just see the thousands of people. the library will not actually open to the public until may 1st, there's still a little work to be done, but they expect as many as half a million people to visit annually henceforth. back to you, jon. jon: and we saw the camera cut

away to barbara bush who was shaking her head disapprovingly and giving a verbal tsk, tsk. it was great. carl cameron, thank you. jenna: we're going to get together some of those moments and play them later on this moment because there were some point i can't, light-hearted moments. let's bring in political analyst juan williams who's been standing by. a lot's going to be said about the legacies of every single one of the presidents that spoke today, but there were light-hearted moments and politics as well. what are your observations? >> i think president obama was pretty clear that he wants to pick up on president bush's emphasis on immigration reform x you know that bill under president bush did not get approved by the congress. but i thought today it was pretty clear that president obama wants to hitch his wagon to this event to try to give immigration reform as it works

its way through washington. jenna: do you think that's effective? is the time and place to mention something like that? >> i think it's pretty patent. everybody can see he's trying to get some energy for the bill. now, remember, speaker boehner's in the audience. i think one of the joys -- and jon picked up on this, you picked up on this, jenna -- this was just an all-american, it just makes you want to smile event. it just makes you feel so great. i know i'm out of role here as your analyst, but as an american -- jenna: analysts can smile, juan. we allow smiles from the analysts. >> okay, okay. [laughter] yeah. i just thought, you know, and i'm just so -- i mean, i feel for president bush. you know, this is a guy that's been through a lot. you know, after the economic recession his numbers were way down. i mean, he had to deal with everything. his numbers were way up after 9/11 to be fair. right now in the fox poll we have him at 49%. it's pretty much the highest he's been since he left office. and i think lots of people right

now just think, you know what? he made some decisions that were controversial, but he stayed in the game, and we are, you know, america so proud, and america the state, you think about after 9/11 the steps he took, we are safer for it. so i think a lot of that kind of attitude has boiled away and, unfortunately, some of the partisanship that attends the current president has also helped him in a sense because i think people just rally to him as a republican. right now it's like 80% of republicans have a positive opinion about president george w. bush. jenna: a good day for us to have a breather, have a smile and appreciate the leaders that we've had of in this country. >> we're blessed. jenna: we really are. juan, thank you for that. thanks for the smiles, laughs, and anything else. we'll take the analysis any day, but it's nice to have that. thank you. >> you're welcome, jenna. jon: now to this fox news alert, major developments concerning the war in syria. defense ec tear chuck hagel is

now saying the u.s. has evidence chemical weapons were used in that civil war. let's go to wendell goler with the latest. >> reporter: this comes just a day after secretary hagel suggested that european allegations of chemical weapons used in syria were still unproved saying suspicions are one thing, evidence is another. and even today hagel suggests the evidence isn't definitive. he spoke to reporters just a short while ago in abu dhabi. >> the u.s. intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence if the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria, specifically the chemical agenter run. >> reporter: congress leaders were informed in a letter or from the president's legislative affairs director that goes on to say the u.s. must build on the intelligence assessment to establish credible and corroborated facts. the u.s. has asked the united nations for an investigation,

but syria has prevented experts from traveling to parts of the country where chemical weapons were allegedly used. secretary of state kerry said there were a couple of spots with -- where chemical weapons may have used. meanwhile, senator mccain says the red line has already been crossed. >> now i hope the administration will consider what heaven recommend -- what we have been recommending now for over two years of this bloodletting a a safe area for the opposition to operate, to establish a no-fly zone and providehe people who we trust. >> reporter: administration officials have indicated they're reluctant to impose a no-fly zone over parts of syria because the country's air defenses are more example, thecau the country is more densely populated, would suffer more civilian casualties. and the u.s. is alsoical

of arming the opposition for fear the weapons would fall in the hands of al-q-related opposition fighters in syria. of. jon: senator john mccain will talk with us live about these revelations from syria. wendell goler at the white house, thank you. jenna: new information on the boston bombing investigation as the parents of the two suspects speak to reporters about their sons. what they had to say about them, next. plus, new details about this home clinging to the edge of a hillside. what firefighters are saying may have triggered this massive land have been slide.

jon: "happening now," new signs of hope for rescue teams in bangladesh after an eight-story garment factory collapsed. rick folbaum is tracking that story for us live from the breaking news desk. rick. all right, we'll get to rick in a little bit -- a little bit later on. jenna: big story there out of bangladesh, certainly, and we'll be back with fresh new video in just a moment. in the meantime, we have some new information as well about how the story in the boston is being covered not only here in the united states, but also overseas. there's some new developments in the boston bombing

investigation, and it now appears the mother knew her older son had been radicalized and was willing to die for islam. he did die in a shootout with police, although we're not sure exactly how he died, was there's some -- because there's some confusion about whether or not his younger brother hit him with a car on the way out of this big shootout between authorities. the fbi investigators are questioning the surviving brother, as we know, and they were shocked when a judge stopped the interrogations in its tracks. we have some fox news exclusive reporting on that as well that we'll bring you throughout the day. the fbi is telling lawmakers on capitol hill that investigators were getting valuable information from the suspect and or were apparently stunned when a judge and lawyer showed up at the hospital. so we're going to bring you more on that report as we get it. there's the two brothers. we have a guest standing by with. guys, can we go straight to washington lead? is that all right? i'm waiting for direction from the control room that i'm not getting, but i'm just going to tell you a little bit more about it. let's go straight to walid.

washington lead terse is joining us right now. we're getting a little confused with some of our reporting in light of the breaking news out of texas. but we brought you on today because we're seeing one side of the story here reported in the united states. but there's the global media as well. and you have participated in a series of interviews in the european media and in the muslim world, and we were really interested to ask you about how this story, the details of it, the motive is being played out all over the world. what can you tell us about that? >> well, jenna, it's a very interesting experience. on the one hand, i monitor the jihadi web sites, but on the other hand i had a chance to engage with, as you said, international, russian, european and also the arab and muslim world. and it was moving very fast. the jihadi web site, if i focus on them first, have been very steady, very firm from the beginning. they said we don't know if it's

our jihadis or not. whatever it is, when america loses, it's good. this is a victory for us. and they have developed that. and when the identity of the two persons was revealed, then you saw on those jihadi web sites more recognition and more support. but in the international media, arab and european, you had a change, a mutation. the first few hours to couple days there was a pushback. there was argument, for example, that this was extremist right-wing, this is pushback against the taxes day and some even mentioned the tea party, what have you. and when the identity of the two persons was revealed, then there was of the criticism of u.s. foreign policy. and at the end when we knew more about what was happening, then the debate became more balanced. jenna: one of the headlines we saw and wanted to work through with you is this: al-qaeda can transform u.s. cities into baghdad. that's one of the headlines we saw. another one with: boston strikes show u.s. failures in the war on terror. you know, as we're trying to understand the enemy, walid, how

does how this is being covered overseas help us do that so that we don't have things like this happen? >> absolutely. jenna, what you have mentioned now probably is the most dangerous of all attacks i have seen first on jihadi web sites and then even on some written web sites by those in support of al-qaeda. and that sentence is very important. that's where the debate should be going as well in addition to the details of what we're discovering about those two individuals. in the region the jihadi supporters of either the chechnyanjihadis or the taliban, those in north africa including those who attacked us in benghazi, what did they say? this is just one operation. others came and said, look, we've been able to shut down boston, a big city. we've been able to shut down its air space, trains were not functioning. so they have a different perspective of what they call and see as a victory. and worse some web sites were talking about repetitive, they were going to try more.

jenna: that's interesting. so just because many here at home are claiming it's a big victory because the police force was so responsive. you did see the presence of law enforcement all over the city of boston and eventually the suspect was caught, one was killed. to what we're -- so what we're seeing potentially as a victory, quote-unquote, covered here, that's not exactly the way the, quote-unquote, enemy is taking it. >> absolutely. this is the essence of the lesson. when we deployed the forces, the enemy is doing what? cut and paste. i do project there will be videos showing of these two, quote-unquote, jihadists, and then they're going to say look what two people have done. they were able to paralyze a city. the enemy deploys you're going to call it the armed forces. so, yes, it's a propaganda warfare. jenna: in better attempts to address the problem, walid, again, i'm going back to, quote-unquote, the enemy. we've seen two different

administrations use two different terms. you have the war on terror, and then you have the war on al-qaeda and its affiliates, and we have no evidence that al-qaeda was necessarily attached to these brothers. but we're still at odds on how to talk about it, walid, so far into this conflict. and i'm just wondering what you can share with our viewers. when we talk about and we're so careful to talk about indicting an entire community of muslims can we're not trying to do, how do we handle this? how do we call it for what it is, and what's the right way to go? >> absolutely. jenna, this is another center of what's happening now is our narrative. and, you know what? the international community is on one planet, and only america is on a different planet. we don't know, we have not been able to identify with accuracy. yes, the war on terror is too wide of a notion, but the war on al-qaeda is too narrow a notion. what's happening in europe, the arab world and elsewhere, they name this movement with its own name. if you look at french, british, german or arab media, they call them the islamists, the

jihadists, the salafists, and that is in the arab world where most people are muslim. so there is no conflict of naming the enemy or the threat with its technical name, the jihadists. jenna: very interesting, waxer alid -- walid. thanks for roming with us at a rocky beginning with us. thank you. >> thank you, jenna. jon: defense secretary chuck hagel now says the u.s. has evidence chemical weapons have been used by the assad regime in syria. senator john mccain on what the u.s. response should be. plus, what iran says it is ready to do about its nuclear program, a new development to share with you coming up. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior,

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♪ ♪ jon: president george w. bush dedicating his library today in texas, joined by all of the living former presidents and president obama. president bush looking back at his term in office and reflecting on the role of the president of the united states of america. >> in democracy the purpose of public office is not to fulfill personal ambition. elected officials must serve a cause greater than themselves. the political winds blow left and right, polls rise and fall, supporters come and go. but in the end, leaders are

defined by the convictions they hold. and my deepest conviction, the guiding principle of the administration, is that that the united states of america must drive to expand the reach of freedom. jon: he also spoke about the need for a free society. >> a free society thrives when neighbors help neighbors, and the strong protect the weak, and public policies promote private compassion. as president, i've tried to act on these principles every day. it wasn't always easy, and it certainly wasn't always popular. one of the benefits of freedom is that people can disagree. it's fair to say i created plenty of opportunities to exercise that right. jon: dan bartlett was the president's counselor who oversaw the white house press office and the offices of communications, media affairs and speech writing. dan, your thoughts on the opening of this day and the

spectacle, really, that we saw this hour. >> yeah. it's hard to put it any other way. you know, for we personally having worked for president bush for 13 years going back when he first ran for governor of texas, it was an emotional moment. and to see this history made where you bring this special club together and the mutual respect and admiration of the former presidents and the current president was really awesome, as president bush said, to see it firsthand. jon: yeah. his love for the country very evident. he got choked up a number of times and, obviously, just having his father there and able to speak, he made mention of that. i mean, we thought president bush, bush 41, might not make it to see christmas because of that bronchial infection and pneumonia he had. and there he was today making some brief remarks on behalf of his son. >> well, it seems like you never count the bushes out. he's an amazing man, bush 41, and i know it meant a lot to president bush that his father

was there, his mother, the entire family, for that matter. and it's what, it's such a joyous occasion, and something he said in his remarks. the thing that really guided this man during his time in office and certainly today is his faith, his family and hi friends. -- his friends. and i think you saw that on full display just about an hour ago. jon: so we had the current occupant of the white house, a democrat, along with two former presidents who were democrats and two former presidents who were republicans there. and, you know, the mood could not have been more gracious, more accepting, more loving. can you bottle up some of that and take it back to washington, dan? [laughter] >> i wish it could be exported. but i think president obama was on to something when he said you truly can't appreciate the job and what it takes to do that job unless you've been there before. and there's a very select few who have. you hope to think that the type of bipartisanship that many of those on the stage had exhibited during their own presidency such

as president obama mentioning president bush's accomplishments on a bipartisan level. i understand that the climate in washington has coarsened, it's hardened since president bush has left, but maybe the public can see what good can be dope when both -- done when both parties come together. but i know they're tough issues. jon: we mentioned you were, in part, responsible for press relations during the bush he got a lot of bad press especially in the latter months when the financial crisis hit, when the iraq war was dragging on and on and on. these days according to the latest fox news poll 49% of americans approve of the job the president did. do you expect you'll see that number continue to rise? >> i think that's right. a couple things about that. one, being in the white house and seeing him make the difficult decisions even when they were not politically popular and knowing that he was going to potentially get criticized in the media, the national media, how he was able to push that aside and do what

he thought was right. i think the other thing that happens in a postpresidency as the issues that became presidential at that time kind of fade to a certain extent, and the individual characteristics of the person reemerge. one thing we always saw during his presidency that while his approval numbers may have dipped, the personal popularity of him remained more steady. and i think you're seeing those attributes that were on display and spoken to by his wife and the others are what people are seeing today. and so i think those numbers will continue to steadily improve. jon: it was a great ceremony and can't wait to get a peek at that museum. dan bartlett, thank you for coming on. >> my pleasure. jenna: well, some sobering news, breaking news today. defense secretary chuck hagel now says the u.s. has some evidence that some chemical weapons have been used there. senator john mccain on what the u.s. response should be to this development. his first interview coming up next.

jenna: a fox news alert, returning to one of our top stories today, both secretary of state john kerry and defense secretary chuck hagel now saying the united states has some evidence that the syrian government has used some chemical weapons in its civil war. yes, there are some caveats there, that's why we want to speak with arizona senator john mccain who joins us now live from the capitol. >> she's talking to me -- [laughter] jenna: are you getting your letters, senator mccain? >> just cut her out. jenna: we'll get back to him as soon as we can. a little bit of gremlins here. you know, while i have the time, i want to read you part of the letter that senator mccain received, because the caveats are very important. and this is directly from the administration. this is what the letter reads: our intelligence community does

assess with varying degrees of confidence that the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria. specifically, the chemical agent serin. this assessment is based in part on sid logical samples which means, jon, that there were some bodies tested here. senator mccain is with us, i believe he's back now. senator mccain, i just read a small portion of the letter about the caveats. you know, a varying degree of confidence. >> uh-huh. jenna: but there's specifics about the chemical agent serin. then the caveat the intelligence assessment alone is not sufficient. so what are we to make of this ledline? -- headline? has a red line been crossed or not? >> well, in my view, it was crossed. not only have our intelligence people concluded that, but as importantly the israeli, the british and the french have as well.

and obviously, we know that bashar assad will do whatever it is necessary in order to stay in power; massacres of his own people, all of the actions that he's taken that are so horrific. so i or worry -- i worry that the president and the administration will use these caveats as an excuse not to act right away or act at all, because the president clearly stated that it was a red line and that it couldn't be crossed without the united states taking vigorous action. that action should be a safe zone for the syrian opposition to operate in syria, weapons to the right people in syria and neutralizing the air capability of bashar assad. jenna: i'm just getting some news, and this news is p developing very fast over the last couple hours. you mentioned that britain has also had the same assessment. reuters now coming out and saying the british are saying

they have limited but persuasive information showing chemical weapon use including serin in syria. do you think we're at the risk where another country takes the lead here, senator, that maybe britain or france or nato overall like we saw in libya, is that a model that we might see in syria as well, and is that a potential option? >> i don't think so. i think only the united states can lead in this. what i worry about is that now they have in the overwhelming view of most that bashar assad has crossed the red line that the president established and that we don't take action. the iranians, hezbollah, other countries in the region will be paying close attention as to whether we react to what the president clearly stated on numerous occasions was a red line, and that's the use of chemical weapons. and by the way, we also have to have not just plans, but capabilities to go in and secure these stocks of chemical weapons

on very short notice. because some of these caches of weapons are in disputed areas, and bashar assad has already shown to the satisfaction of -- my satisfaction that he's willing to use these chemical weapons. jenna: considering the effects of the sequester, do you think we're even able to respond quick enough? >> i think we can if we have sufficient forces at the ready. right now i think we have plans, but i don't believe that we have the capability to react in a very short time period. and that's the possibility i think now a compelling argument has been made for. jenna: senator, we only have a minute here, but you say you have concerns with the information, acting on this news. what are you going to do now? with information today what's your next step? >> we will continue to press for the establishment of a safe zone in syria, provision of the weapons that are necessary, a

place, a benghazi where the syrian resistance can establish a government and operate and also do what we can to neutralize the growing influence of jihadist elements al-nusra in this fight which can be very, very dangerous in the long term. jenna: and the risk is if we don't? >> that you will see a constant civil war. you may see bashar assad withdraw to an enclave, you could see this thing stretch out for many, many months. jenna: senator, we always appreciate you coming on the program and apologize for those technical problems. >> no problem. jenna: it's great to have you, sir. thank you so much. >> thank you. jenna: we'll be right back.

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>> big day today. >> jenna: america live starts right now. >> fox news alert. a pair of major headlines connected to the boston marathon bombing investigation. welcome to america live. i'm megyn kelly. >> in news we first broke in an exclusive last night. we have learned that the mother of the bombing suspects knew as early as 2011 that her older son had been radicalized. f.b.i. telling lawmakers she sent text messages to family members in russia suggesting that her son tamerlan tsarnaev was willing to die for us lamb. this may have happened as early as 2011. perhaps more important, two sources with direct knowledge of a classified f.b.i. briefing yesterday on capitol